Protesters rally in Bangkok to demand Thai prime minister's resignation over leaked Cambodia call
Outrage over the call mostly revolved around Paetongtarn's comments toward an outspoken regional army commander and her perceived attempts to appease Hun Sen, the current Cambodian Senate president, to ease tensions at the border.
Advertisement
About 20,000 protesters joined the rally as of Saturday night, according to an estimate by the Bangkok police. Despite a downpour in the afternoon, they held national flags and placards around the Victory Monument in central Bangkok as speakers took turns blasting the government. The participants, many of whom came in the morning, chanted slogans, sang and danced to nationalist songs.
'From a heart of a Thai person, we've never had a prime minister who's so weak,' said Tatchakorn Srisuwan, 47, a tour guide from Surat Thani province. 'We don't want to invade anyone, but we want to say that we are Thai and we want to protect Thailand's sovereignty.'
The rally ended peacefully at night with the protesters vowing to return if Paetongtarn and her government ignore their demands.
Advertisement
There were many familiar faces from a conservative, pro-royalist group known as Yellow Shirts. They are longtime foes of Paetongtarn's father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who reportedly has a close relationship with Hun Sen and who was toppled in a military coup in 2006. Rallies organized by Yellow Shirts also helped oust the elected government of Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, in a 2014 coup.
Hun Sen on Saturday said the action by the Thai army at the disputed area was a serious violation of Cambodia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, despite the country's goodwill in attempting to resolve the border issue.
'This poor Cambodia has suffered from foreign invasion, war and genocide, been surrounded and isolated and insulted in the past, but now Cambodia has risen on an equal face with other countries,' Hun Sen told an audience of thousands at the 74th anniversary celebration of the founding of his long-ruling Cambodian People's Party in the capital, Phnom Penh.
There is a long history of territorial disputes between the countries. Thailand is still rattled by a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling that awarded Cambodia the disputed territory where the historic Preah Vihear temple stands. There were sporadic though serious clashes there in 2011. The ruling from the U.N. court was reaffirmed in 2013, when Yingluck was prime minister.
The scandal has broken Paetongtarn's fragile coalition government, costing her Pheu Thai Party the loss of its biggest partner, Bhumjaithai Party. Its departure left the 10-party coalition with 255 seats, just above the majority of the 500-seat house.
Paetongtarn also faces other investigations that could lead to her removal from office.
Sarote Phuengrampan, secretary-general of the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, said Wednesday that his agency is investigating Paetongtarn for a serious breach of ethics over the Hun Sen phone call. He didn't give a possible timeline for a decision.
Advertisement
Reports said the Constitutional Court could decide as early as next week whether it will take a petition requesting Paetongtarn's removal because of the phone call, enabling the court to suspend her from duty pending an investigation. The prime minister said Tuesday that she's not worried and is ready to give evidence to support her case.
'It was clear from the phone call that I had nothing to gain from it, and I also didn't cause any damage to the country,' she said.
The court last year removed her predecessor from Pheu Thai over a breach of ethics. Thailand's courts, especially the Constitutional Court, are considered a bulwark of the country's royalist establishment, which has used them and nominally independent state agencies such as the Election Commission to cripple or sink political opponents.
___
Associated Press writer Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh, Cambodia contributed to this report.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
22 minutes ago
- Politico
Megabill reading wraps up after nearly 16 hours
Senate clerks have completed a nearly 16-hour reading of the GOP's 940-page megabill. Clerks began reading the text aloud at 11:08 p.m. Saturday and finished Sunday at 3:03 p.m. By refusing to waive chamber rules allowing for reading, Senate Democrats hoped to create an opportunity to highlight some of the most unpopular issues in the legislation. Now, under Senate rules, there will be 20 hours of the debate evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats are expected to use their full 10 hours, while Republicans are expected to take only a couple hours. That would mean the vote-a-rama — a marathon series of amendment votes — will begin sometime early Monday morning, though senators could agree by unanimous consent to delay it. The GOP megabill is by no means finalized. Party leaders continue to negotiate to tweak the bill in ways that will win 51 votes in the Senate while also garnering enough votes to pass in the House later this week without further modifications. Republicans also continue to deal with the chamber's parliamentarian, who continues to review whether parts of the bill comply with the budget rules the GOP is using to pass the bill along party lines.
The Hill
28 minutes ago
- The Hill
Senate wraps up 16-hour reading of Trump bill, moves to debate
The Senate clerks completed the full reading of the Senate GOP's massive tax and spending bill on Sunday afternoon, allowing the chamber to start the countdown clock toward a final vote on the package sometime on Monday. Democrats, in an attempt to delay passage of the bill, forced the clerks to read aloud all 940 pages of the package, an endeavor that clocked in at 15 hours and 55 minutes and ended shortly after 3 p.m. 'I objected to stop Republicans moving forward on their Big, Ugly Bill until they read every single word of it to the American people,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote on X on Saturday night. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) thanked the clerks. 'I would like to start by just taking a moment to thank the clerks, who stayed up all night reading the amendment and getting us to this point. I know it was a long night and that we're not finished yet, but I want them to know the Senate appreciates their dedication, their stamina and their service,' he said. The chamber will now begin up to 20 hours of debate, equally divided between the two sides before an unlimited series of amendment votes known as a 'vote-a-rama' is set to begin. Republicans are expected to yield back much of their time, expediting the timeline for passage. That would mean the vote-a-rama would likely kick off in the wee hours of Monday morning, setting up passage for sometime later in the day. Members are able to offer as many amendments as possible as long as they are related to the tax package. All amendments must be voted on and dispensed with before GOP leaders are able to vote on final passage. Republicans were able to scrounge together the votes needed to advance the bill on Saturday — after a long day of negotiations that continued as the vote was held open for more than three hours — but they still have work to do. Two Republicans who voted against advancing the measure — Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) — are also expected to vote against the bill itself over Medicaid provisions and the inclusion of a $5 trillion debt ceiling hike, respectively. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), one of the conference's foremost centrists, voted to advance the bill on Saturday but has not yet declared whether she will vote for final passage. 'That's going to depend on whether the bill is substantially changed,' she said on Saturday. 'There are some very good changes that have been made in the latest version but I want to see further changes and I will be filing a number of amendments.' Senate Republicans ran into trouble on Saturday as the vote was held open for nearly four hours after a foursome of conservatives — Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) — held out their support over what they view as too generous of Medicaid provisions in the package. According to the conservatives, Thune and Trump committed to back Scott's proposal to lower the 90 percent federal matching share for new Medicaid enrollees in expansion states. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a top moderate, also held out her support for multiple hours over the proposed Medicaid the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cuts in the blueprint.
Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
Mike Lee preemptively drops 'big beautiful bill' provision to sell federal lands that riled GOP colleagues
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee preemptively withdrew a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Saturday evening that would have allowed for the sale of federal lands for development after widespread outrage among his conservative colleagues. "Over the past several weeks, I've spent a lot of time listening to members of the community, local leaders, and stakeholders across the country. While there has been a tremendous amount of misinformation – and in some cases, outright lies – about my bill, many people brought forward sincere concerns," Lee said in a message posted to his X account on Saturday evening. Lee, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he pulled the provision after he failed to secure "safeguards to guarantee that these lands would be sold only to American families," and not to China or corporations. The Senate parliamentarian ruled on Monday that the provision's original language did not comply with strict rules related to what could be included in reconciliation legislation, with Lee's office resubmitting the provision with new language before pulling it altogether on Saturday evening. Lee said he maintains his long-held position that the U.S. government owns too much land that is often mismanaged and leaves Americans, most notably in Western states, with higher tax burdens. "I continue to believe the federal government owns far too much land – land it is mismanaging and in many cases ruining for the next generation," Lee wrote in his post. "Under Democratic presidents, massive swaths of the West are being locked away from the people who live there, with no meaningful recourse." Lee had included a mandate for sales of millions of acres of federal lands in a draft provision of the tax cut package earlier this month. He preemptively pulled the provision on Saturday ahead of a procedural vote, as a handful of Republican lawmakers in both chambers publicly denounced the provision and said they would vote against the bill if it was included. "We've got the votes to strike it," Montana Sen. Steve Daines said Thursday of Lee's provision. "We're ready." "I agree with my colleagues that the federal government has mismanaged federal lands for decades. But I don't agree with their solution. The solution is not to sell public lands. The solution is better management. Let's send legislation to POTUS desk to improve management and access. I remain a no on the senate reconciliation bill," Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke posted to X last week ahead of Lee pulling the provision. Zinke served as President Donald Trump's secretary of the Department of the Interior during his first administration. "The people of Idaho have been clear – we do NOT support the sale of our public lands to the highest bidder. I am proud to help lead the effort to remove this provision from the One Big Beautiful Bill," Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch posted to X after Lee said he would pull the provision. Lawmakers are on a tight 4th of July deadline to get the legislation, which will advance Trump's agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt, to the president's desk. Senate Republicans successfully carried the legislation over a procedural hurdle late on Saturday after hours of negotiations.
